U.S. transfers 9 Guantánamo prisoners to Saudi Arabia

The U.S. transferred nine Guantánamo prisoners to Saudi Arabia on Saturday as part of a years-long diplomatic effort to get the nation to accept detainees from neighboring Yemen.

"There have been a lot of discussions with the Saudis over the last few years, and they have been emphatic that it was very important to close Guantánamo," former State Department envoy Cliff Sloan told The New York Times. "They wanted to help with that. But the one thing they weren't willing to do for a long time was actually accept Yemenis. That's why this is a major breakthrough."

The U.S. didn't want to return prisoners to Yemen due to the country's active al Qaeda affiliate.

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The move comes ahead of President Obama's Wednesday visit to Riyadh. After the transfer, 80 prisoners remain at Guantánamo.